


Homecoming

by LoveThemWinchesters



Series: Foreplay [11]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - J2, Coffee Shop, Emotional!Jared, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Bottom!Jensen, Implied Top!Jared, M/M, POV Jared Padalecki, Schmoop, emotional!Jensen, hurt!Jared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:28:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8320897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveThemWinchesters/pseuds/LoveThemWinchesters
Summary: After Jared's accident, Jensen treats Jared to a little something special. (Jared POV) **Most parts in this 'verse can be read alone, but you might want to read Lucky and Aftermath (or at least one of the two) before you read this to understand what's going on.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Background story is NEXT!!! Bear with me :) After a certain unexpected scene in _Aftermath_ , I just HAD to write this. I've been working on finishing my a/b/o over the last couple weeks as well, so I've been MIA for a bit. That had to be completed before I went any further in this series. (It's now finished! Yay!)  
> \----------------------------------------------------  
>   
> Thank you to [RiatheMai](http://archiveofourown.org/users/RiatheMai/pseuds/RiatheMai), [aire_blair](http://archiveofourown.org/users/aire_blair/pseuds/aire_blair), and [Kailene](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kailene/pseuds/Kailene) for your quick read-throughs/betas. You ladies are awesome!  
>   
> \----------------------------------------------------  
>   
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I mean no disrespect to the people portrayed herein. We're all just having a little fun, aren't we? :)
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------  
>   
> Warnings: This fic is m/m. Please do not read if you don’t like or are uncomfortable with this content.  
> 

 

 

♦♦♦♦♦

 

Jensen was up to something. Jared had no idea what it was, but his husband had been sneaking around the house for the last few days—and Jensen's technique in the fine art of stealth left a lot to be desired; he was no James Bond. If the hushed and secret phone calls hadn't been enough to tip him off, well then, Jensen nearly jumping out of his shoes and slamming one of the bureau drawers shut (almost taking off one of his own fingers in the process) when Jared had shuffled into the bedroom to get ready for bed the other night had been enough to seal the deal. It was almost funny.

It had been just over two weeks since Jared’s accident. He was back up on his feet moving around (albeit rather slowly) without much pain because he was taking some top notch pain meds; although, he did try to avoid the motion of standing up and sitting down whenever possible. His lung was healing up fine according to Dr. Evans, but his ribs were taking their sweet-ass time. Anytime he bent over at the middle, his left side would scream out in agony. And he was stuck at home unless he called in a driver or Jensen offered to play chauffeur. (Cabin fever, anyone?) The doctor had said to give it another couple weeks.

He needed a new car anyway.

And Jared had liked that car.

He let out a sigh as he paced the length of the living room and back. The eastern-facing room was lit up brightly from the morning sun coming in through the sheer curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lucky followed behind him, nipping at his heels; the puppy had already grown by leaps and bounds in just the week or so that they’d had him.

Jared looked at the _Get Well_ cards lining every flat surface in the room; they were starting to spill over into the kitchen now. Once the people at the club had gotten word of what had happened, why Jensen had had to leave the stage in such a rush, cards and flowers and stuffed animals had begun to show up by the truckload down at the club. Someone had even baked them cookies. Jensen had a large fan base. Jared, much to his surprise, did, too.

Jared glanced at the green digits of the clock on the DVR. It was 6:47am. Jensen had said to be ready by 7:00. It would be a miracle if Jensen was able to meet that deadline. His husband had just gotten out of the shower; Jared knew because he'd heard the water running until just a minute ago. He had no idea why Jensen had wanted him to be up and dressed so early in the morning. It was a good thing Jared was an early bird. Jensen, on the other hand, was not.

“You think your other daddy’s gonna be late to his own date?” he asked the rambunctious little dog at his feet.

Lucky sat back on his haunches, tail wagging, one ear up, one ear down, and replied with a bark that made Jared laugh.

“Go get your daddy,” Jared said, pointing toward the stairs. “Go on. Go get ‘im, Lucky.”

In the next second, Lucky was up on his feet and racing off to the second floor, his nails clattering up the hardwood stairs. The dog had learned some simple commands already; he knew what “Go get Daddy” meant.

Jared watched until the animal disappeared from sight. As he did, he felt a twitch under his cast. His forearm was starting to itch. He tucked a finger under the plaster, but couldn’t reach the annoying spot. _Damn._ He looked around for something to give him some sort of relief, but didn’t see anything in the living room. Then his eyes landed on the junk drawer in the kitchen. _Ah-ha!_ He made a beeline for the drawer, pulled it open, and began to rummage through its contents one-handed. He saw a pencil—that would do nicely—and pulled it out. He let out a damn near obscene moan when he got the pencil up there and scratched the itch.

“You’re not supposed to do that.”

Jared jumped and whirled around at the unexpected voice of his husband. The pencil fell to the floor and rolled across the tile where it stopped at Jensen’s sneakered toe. Lucky ran over and pushed it around the floor with his nose as he tried to pick it up with his mouth.

“But it itches,” Jared whined.

Jensen bent over and picked up the No. 2 before Lucky could make a meal out of it. He closed the space between them and stood on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Jared’s lips. When he dropped back down to the balls of his feet, Jensen handed the pencil back to Jared.

“Go for it. I won’t tell,” Jensen said with a sly smile. “Secret’s safe with me and all that.”

“Thank you,” Jared said with relief when he slid the pencil under the cast again. He closed his eyes and groaned.

“You keep making those noises, Jare, I’m gonna start to get jealous of that piece of wood.”

Jared froze. And then he narrowed his eyes and smiled. “We could go back upstairs, you know.” The idea of Jensen riding him into the mattress was already having an effect on him if the tightness in his pants was anything to go by. And Jensen looked fuckin’ gorgeous with his damp and stylishly messy hair; he hadn’t done much more than towel dry it and run some gel through it.

“Maybe later,” Jensen teased, letting his hand slide up the front of Jared’s thigh and brush against the inseam of Jared’s jeans. “But first, we have somewhere to be.”

“You ever planning on telling me where exactly?”

“Nope.” Jensen walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a steaming cup of French roast. Jared watched as his husband’s eyes nearly rolled up into his head. Jared couldn’t say anything because he was just as much a coffee freak as Jensen was.

It was while watching Jensen drink his coffee that Jared noticed what Jensen was wearing. It was in one of Jared’s old UT Austin t-shirts (one that fit a little tighter across Jensen’s chest than it once had; yeah, Jensen had had a habit of wearing Jared's shirts at one time long ago) and a pair of jeans that did wonders for his already very fine ass.

“Run out of laundry this morning?”

Jensen’s eyes opened back up. He looked down at his clothes, at the burnt orange longhorn emblazoned on the front of the gray shirt, then up to Jared. “Maybe. Maybe not,” he replied playfully.

Lucky barked, probably feeling a little left out. Without thinking, Jared went down into a crouch to pet him. His ribs didn’t care for the sudden movement and he grimaced. “Shit,” he muttered. He was certain Jensen had seen the pain flash across his face before he could hide it.

Jensen put his coffee mug down on the counter and rushed to Jared’s side.

“Just gimme a second,” Jared huffed out. He looked down at the puppy and felt bad for it. Lucky looked guilty, more than likely because he was picking up on the fact that his daddy was in pain; dogs just sensed things like that. “Not your fault, pup,” he said as he reached out and let the animal sniff his hand. A moment later, the tentative sniffs turned into sloppy licks. Jared turned his hand and scratched the dog on top of the head between his ears.

“Okay,” he said to Jensen. “I…” He went to push back up to his feet and was relieved when Jensen was there to help him up. And odd mixture of both pain and relief flared up along Jared’s side as he pressed a hand to it.

“Y’okay?” Jensen asked, concern lacing his words.

Jared took a moment to take a few deep breaths. “Yeah,” he replied with a nod of his head. “But this just sucks.”

“I know.” Jensen ran a hand up and down Jared’s good arm. “Let me just take care of Lucky and then we’ll get outta here. I think you’ll like where we’re goin’. Oh, and just in case you’re worried about the little squirt, Chris will be swinging by later to let him out.”

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

“Austin?” Jared asked at they exited from I-35 and entered the city limits.

Jared had behaved for the last three hours. He hadn’t asked too many questions about their destination. Okay, maybe he’d only stopped after Jensen had threatened to cut him off from sex for the rest of the week.

Jensen only shrugged in response. He glanced over at Jared from the driver’s seat of their SUV. There was a gleam in his eye that Jared didn’t miss. _What in the world was Jensen up to?_

They had history here… more like roots. This is where it all began. This is where they met, where Jared and Jensen had become Jared _and_ Jensen. At the time, Jared had been going into his junior year at UT Austin; Jensen had been working toward his masters.

Jared’s eyes fell to the shirt Jensen had on. He should have figured it out just from that alone.

“We’re going to the campus?”

“Not quite.”

Jensen slowed down for the traffic light as it turned red. When it turned green, he double-checked both directions, twice, before pulling out. Jared appreciated the extra caution. From the few and far between outings since coming home, Jensen knew Jared was still a little jumpy in the car after his near-death experience.

The university was directly off the highway and it was like driving down memory lane. Jared watched the familiar sights go by: the stadium, the gym, the library, the small diner he and his old college buddy Chad had frequented, the College of Business Admin building, the drama building… The list could go on and on. He’d spent seven years of his life living here, Jensen even more.

Jensen took a right turn and drove about another half mile. He slowed down in front of a very familiar building, Jared’s second home while he’d been a student. Jared couldn’t help but smile.

“Danni’s place?” He couldn’t believe it. It was the “Brewed Awakening” where Jared had worked for several years almost a whole decade ago, the exact place he and Jensen had met. “Jens, what are we doing here?” Jared turned in his seat to look at Jensen; he made sure to take it easy so as not to aggravate his side.

Jensen turned off the road into the small parking lot beside the coffee shop and brought the SUV to a stop. When he shut the car off, he unbuckled his seat belt and shifted so he could face Jared.

“I, uh, might’ve talked Danni into letting us have the place to ourselves for a couple hours.”

“This is what you’ve been sneaking around for,” Jared guessed, but his words came out more like a knowing statement. “What’s the occasion?”

Jensen pressed his teeth into his bottom lip and smiled a bit shyly. And that look right there? That was the exact look that had sold Jared on Jensen all those years ago.

“You’ll see,” Jensen said as he reached over and unbuckled Jared’s seatbelt for him. “C’mon.”

Jared opened the door and slid out of the vehicle rather carefully. When his shoes touched the ground, he held on to the doorframe for support as he rose up to his feet. Jensen came around and met him, but let him do it on his own.

“I’m good,” he reassured his husband as he closed the door behind him.

They followed the brick walkway around to the front of the small coffee shop and Jared stopped to look up at the sign. It was a little more worse for wear than he remembered, but it had been lovingly touched up by someone… probably Danni.

There was a hand-written note taped to the front door stating _Closed for a Special Occasion._ Pink and purple hearts were drawn all over it as if a teenaged girl in love had doodled on it. Jared assumed he and Jensen were the “Special Occasion.” When Jensen reached down and turned the door knob, the door opened; he didn’t seem surprised that it was unlocked. He waved a hand and gestured for Jared to enter the shop first.

The sweet smell of baked goods mingled with the bitter scent of coffee in the air. It tickled at Jared’s nose and immediately brought him back to his college days. There were good memories here. Of course, most of them revolved around Jensen, but there were others, too.

He looked up at the chalkboard menu on the wall behind the counter, remembered Danni climbing up on the counter every morning to write the day’s specials on it in multi-colored chalk. The tables and chairs had been updated since he’d worked here; they had a more hip college sort of thing going on now. But the same bookshelves lined the walls and Jared would bet his life on it that he would find his old copy of _Catcher in the Rye_ up there somewhere. That book had always been with him until his last day when he’d donated it to ever-growing the collection. It was sort of a tradition that had started well before Danni had taken over the shop from her parents.

A high-pitched squeal rang out from the other end of the room causing Jared to jump and look in that direction.

“Jared! Jensen!”

Suddenly, Danni was there, arms wrapped around Jensen in a bone-crushing hug. When she broke away from Jensen, she looked Jared up and down, dark eyes scrutinizing him. Jensen must have told her what had happened. Jared figured she was trying to decide whether she could hug him or not due to his injuries. He took pity on her and raised his right arm in invitation.

“Jen told me what happened,” she said quietly into his shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Jay.” Danni stepped back after a moment and looked up at him.

Jared swept his long bangs back from his face. “Thanks, Danni. Me, too.” He gave her a tender smile letting her know that he really was all right.

It must have worked, because the concerned, motherly expression slipped away. Danni stood back, then, and looked at the two of them. She pursed her lips and shook her head. “I still say it was a crime against women when God made you two gay.”

Jensen chuckled as he wrapped his arm possessively around Jared’s waist and pulled him a little closer. “Sorry, sweetheart. What can I say?” he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Jensen and Danneel had been close friends back in the day, even before Jared had started working at the shop; they had both been in the same class in college. He’d be ever grateful for the woman as she’d played an integral part in getting them together. She had always said, if she couldn’t have Jensen, then Jared had better marry his ass. The thought had Jared’s lips turning up in a smile.

“Well, I’d love to stick around to chat, but I have errands to run.” Danni winked at Jensen then. “You both know where everything is. Help yourselves. Everything’s fresh. I’ll be back at one.” She kissed them both on the cheek and then she was out the door in a rush.

“Wow. Okay, then,” Jared commented. He didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Danni poked her head back inside.

“And no sex… anywhere. I’ll know if you do. Oh, and Jenny, love the shirt—but I think it’s time to retire it.”

Both men huffed out a laugh and watched as she disappeared again. Jared heard her lock the door behind her.

“So…” Jensen clapped his hands together and shuffled them. “Our old corner is free.” He nodded toward the small table in the back, left-hand corner of the shop. “Wanna sit? I’ll go grab us a couple drinks and something to eat.”

Jared looked between the table and his husband. “Uh, sure.” He still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Had Jensen just driven them three hours to Austin just so they could have coffee and pastries?

“No foam latte, with whip, lots of sugar, and chocolate sprinkles on top? Oh, and caramel syrup, right?”

Even though Jensen had never actually worked at the Brewed Awakening, he had always been just as familiar and at ease with handling the coffee machines as Jared had been.

Jared smiled. “God, I haven’t had one of those since—”

“Since you graduated,” Jensen finished for him.

“Yeah.”

Jared looked around the place while Jensen moved unerringly behind the counter fixing their drinks and doing whatever else it was he was doing. He ran the tip of his index finger over the cracked spines of the paperback books on the shelf beside him. They were all literary classics: _The Great Gatsby_ , _The Hobbit_ , _1984_ , _The Count of Monte Cristo_ and, he grinned as he pulled one particular book down, _The Catcher in the Rye_. He would bet anything that Danni had made sure that book was right there for him. He flipped to the inside of the back cover and saw the doodled _J 2_ that he’d written seemingly forever ago.

Jensen sat down just at that moment and set Jared’s cup in front of him along with a very fresh-looking beignet covered in powdered sugar. Danni must have remembered Jared’s fixation on the fried dessert. Jensen had an old-fashioned doughnut.

His husband glanced over at the book in Jared’s hand. “She said it was still here.”

“Yeah. After all these years. I can’t believe it.”

Jared closed the book and smoothed a hand over its cover in near reverence before moving it aside so he could eat. He picked up the beignet and took a bite. And, _oh, my god_. He could die and go to Heaven right now. He’d almost forgotten how good the light and puffy pastries were. Jared placed it back on the plate and licked the sugar off his fingers. When he looked up, he saw Jensen watching him with mirth in his green eyes, the corner of his mouth lifting into a small smile. Jared only grinned before picking up his latte.

“So,” Jared asked, “why are we here exactly?” He sat back in his seat, making himself comfortable, and took a sip of his latte. It was made perfectly. He saw that Jensen’s coffee was black and more than likely unsweetened and no cream, just the way he liked it.

“Well,” Jensen started, and there was a blush spreading up over his neck and up to his ears, “I just… I wanted this to be special. Two weeks ago, I almost lost you.” Suddenly, Jensen’s eyes were glistening and Jared watched as Jensen blinked back the tears and swallowed. “You’re my life, Jared. When you were in the hospital, I…”

Jensen started to get choked up then. Jared stretched a long leg out under the table and let his knee rest up against Jensen’s thigh. It was a small gesture of comfort, reassurance. Jared didn’t say anything, but gave his husband time to gather himself.

Jensen looked up at the ceiling and rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. When he looked back at Jared, he cleared his throat and gave an awkward smile. He began to pick at his napkin on the table. “Shit, if that’s not something I ever have to go through again, it’ll be too soon,” he mumbled. “I love you so much. The vows we said when we got married, I meant them. You’re my other half. Without you, I’m incomplete. I know I wouldn’t survive without you.”

Jared started to feel his own throat tighten up. He reached across the table and took Jensen’s hand in his own. He gave it a squeeze.

“And you’re my other half, too, Jensen. You know that,” Jared said as he smoothed his thumb over the light dusting of freckles on Jensen’s hand.

“I do know that,” Jensen said softly. “I know how serious you are about our relationship, us. I see it in your eyes every day. You show me how much you love me with everything you do. I know I will never have to doubt your love for me.”

Jared didn’t know what to say. Everything Jensen said was true. Jared was very serious about them. Jensen was _it_ for him. Till death do us part and beyond. He loved Jensen with every damn fiber of his being and then some.

“That’s why,” Jensen continued, “it broke my heart when I saw that they had to cut your ring off. Jared, you’ve never taken that off, not since the day I put it on you.”

Jared looked down at the pale line of skin at the base of his left ring finger. That ring had been a symbol of their undying love for one another. Jared had felt like a piece of himself was missing when he’d noticed its absence; he’d felt the loss right down to his soul. He hoped to soon be wearing it again. Not that he needed a material reminder of his love for his husband, but well… he wanted it back.

Jensen pulled his hand free from Jared’s and leaned back in his seat, canting his hips upward. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. And now Jared knew why Jensen had brought him here… He kept quiet and didn’t say anything, not wanting to spoil Jensen’s moment. Although, he was sure everything he had to say was playing out on his face for the whole world to see, especially in his eyes. Jared never could hide his emotions from Jensen.

Jensen reached across the table and carefully took Jared’s left hand in his.

“I brought you here because this is where we met, where we began. I wanted to add another memory to the place because it’s near and dear to my heart.”

Jensen unfolded Jared’s fingers and slipped Jared’s ring—now restored to its once flawless state—over the end of his fourth finger. He slid it over the knuckle and back where it belonged.

“I put this on your finger four years ago as a sign of my love and devotion to you, a circle with no beginning and no end.”

Jared felt his hand begin to tremble in Jensen’s as his emotions started to overcome him. He blinked back his own tears and chewed on his lip.

“Today, I place this ring back on your finger, a symbol of my eternal love for you, love immortal. Thank you for the years you have given me and thank you for all the years you will give me, Jared.”

Jared spun the gold band on his finger with his thumb, a habit that was hard to break, a habit that had reminded him for the last two weeks of what was missing.

He slipped out of his seat without letting go of Jensen’s hand and then tugged his husband up to his feet.

“Thank you, Jensen.” He leaned down and kissed Jensen. It was a kiss that meant so much more than any words could ever express. He broke away for only a moment to whisper, “I love you, too. So much.”

He pulled Jensen in again and didn’t let go for a long time.

And Jared was sure Danni had only been kidding when she’d said no sex on the premises. Or at least she’d forgive them considering the occasion. She wasn’t stupid; she knew they never followed the rules, never had.

Anyway, they could make it up to her.

 

~ Fin ~

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember to leave comments. If you don't feel like leaving a comment and like the story even just a little, hit the Kudos button so I know you were here.


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